CHENNAI: National champion Sourav Ghosal joined Ritwik Bhattacharya and Joshna Chinappa out of the tournament as India’s squash challenge in the World Games came to an end here on Wednesday.
Last Indian squash hope in the games considered a stepping stone for sports seeking Olympic recognition Ghosal went down 4-11, 13-11, 9-11,6-11 to Brit Nicholas Matthew in the men’s singles quarterfinals at Kaohsiung in Chinese Taipei on Wednesday.
Ritwik Bhattacharya conceded to 13th-seeded Frenchman Julien Balbo in the first round while Joshna Chinappa succumbed to world number one Nicole David in the second round.
Beneficiary of a first-round bye, eighth-pitted Saurav had it easy against ninth seeded Frenchman Renan Lavigne 11-7, 11-3, 11-5 in only 36 minutes. However, he has his task out in the quarterfinals, as he would face top-seeded Englishman Nick Matthew. In their only encounter, at the Case Swedish Open 2009, Matthew beat him 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6.
Joshna was unfortunate that she bumped into the world best woman squasher, arguably the best ever, Nicol David of Malaysia. She caved in 11-2, 11-7, 11-3 in only 19 minutes.
In the first round, she stunned a better-ranked Sharon Wee of Malaysia. Joshna won the tightly-fought match 13-15, 15-13, 11-13, 11-3, 11-6. But Nicol was an altogether different proposition.
